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Alfred Giles records his amazement that the tracks of John McDouall Stuart's horses were still visible after eight or nine years. The surveyor with John Ross's exploration party for the Overland Telegraph Line, William Harvey, confirmed the mountain ahead of them was that which John McDouall Stuart had named Central Mount Sturt 10 years before. The group toasted the re-discovery with a bottle of rum, a rare treat. Harvey had carefully carried this across Australia wrapped in his swag. Giles describes the country which was well grassed at the moment. The men also found and sampled some wild fruit. They camped that night at the foot of Stuart's Central Mount Sturt (Stuart).

Stuart had reached what he calculated as the centre of Australia on 22 April 1860 and the following day he climbed a nearby hill, raised the flag and buried a note in a bottle in a cairn of stones. He named the hill Central Mount Sturt after his former leader Charles Sturt who had tried in vain to reach this point on his expedition of 1844-46. The authorities back in Adelaide changed the name to Central Mount Stuart to honour the man who had reached the centre of the continent. John McDouall Stuart died in London in 1866, and would never know how closely the Overland Telegraph Line followed the route he explored across the centre of Australia.

Giles, Alfred, 1847?-1931

Stuart, John McDouall, 1815-1866

Ross, John, 1817-1903

Harvey, William

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004-